Best friends reminisce over childhood in Cooper-Young

By Jeremy Jordan/ MicroMemphis reporterFor over 21 years, the friendship of former and current Cooper-Young residents Eli Wheeler and Evan Potts is stronger than ever. At the age of three Eli and Evan met at Trinity Preschool not knowing that they both lived on Young Avenue.“I remember walking down the street with Nanny looking at Halloween decorations and saw Evan standing in his front yard with his dad,” said Wheeler. “That’s how our friendship began.”Wheeler lived on 1868 Young Ave. until he was 19 years old, just a half a block away from Potts, who lived on 2022 Young Ave until he was 14.

“As kids we would go on bike rides around the neighborhood and play basketball in the street,” said Potts.

Wheeler recalls having several friends in the neighborhood. “Evan and I had over seven friend’s houses to hoop and hang-out at,” said Wheeler. “I remember having fun with the whole block playing hide and seek.”

As kids Wheeler and Potts always had something to get into for entertainment. “Cooper-Young was in the middle of everything,” said Wheeler. “We had the Liberty Bowl, Libertyland, and the Deli.”

Their birthdays are just three days apart, and Evan and Eli have been celebrating together for over 20 years. This year on their birthday, Wheeler and Potts got matching tattoos of the welcome marker on the bridge in Cooper-Young.

Potts, a manager and bar-tender at the Cove moved back to 1989 Manilla Street in Cooper- Young over three years ago. “The neighborhood has grown a lot since I was younger,” said Potts. “It’s good to see all the new restaurants and businesses that have popped up.”

In 2011, the day before Thanksgiving, Eli would lose his childhood home he cherished due to a tragic house fire. Having lived there his whole life, Eli still has great memories of his home on Young Ave. “I loved my awesome house and that my grandmother lived next door,” said Wheeler. “I remember over a 100 people coming to my house for our 18th birthday party.”

As Wheeler and Potts have aged they have become accustom to the “night life” in Cooper-Young frequenting the Young Avenue Deli and the Celtic Crossing. “Now whenever we are in Cooper-Young we hang out, eat, drink, and watch the Tigers and Grizzlies games,” said Wheeler. “We’re kind of like the Cooper-Young Brothers.”

A lot has changed since Eli and Evan were kids, but what remains to be the same is the friendship and the love for their community and the city of Memphis.